Title : Animal Sacrifice

Submitted by : Prabesh Jha Class 9, Nagarjuna Academy

Description: Sacrifice according to religious rituals means an action in which a consecrated offering is made to God or other spiritual beings in order to establish perpetuate or restore a sacred bond between humanity and divine.

But the main question is that “Should animals be killed for these purposes?”

In my view killing animals for any reason is wrong. The main thing is that how they kill in a so unmerciful and torturous way. It is wrong because I believe it selfishness of the human race to end of life of innocent animals. Why to kill animals for any kind of resource which we can easily get from plants.

We consume animals for meat. It provides calories and proteins. But it also is one of the causes of occurrence of various diseases and it is harmful to our health. It hurts animals and our body.

Then, also if in worst condition we need to kill them we must choose easiest animal and easiest way to kill them.

Animals should be treated equally, there is no better reason that the fact they have been here just as long as us, and just because we don’t understand them and cannot communicate with their societies, we should not make them victim of ours.

As our country have various culture traditions and beliefs. Vast of the cultures are very good. But there are some superstious views towards god. Killing animals is known as great job done to please God.

For Example:

The Garimai Mela

The Garimai Mela takes place every five years in Bariyarpur, Bara district, in south of Nepal. It is scheduled in Kartik (October-November). The fair is infamous for the large number of animals (up to 200,000) which are sacrificed to appease the Garimai goddess. The fair reaches its climax on an \"auspicious\" day, when thousand of animals are killed. The bloodletting that takes place turns the entire area into marshy land of blood. It is expected that last time 60,000 young he-buffaloes had been killed as well as an additional 140,000 chicken, goats, pigs, birds and other poultry. The first ritual during Garimai is to worship the weapons which are used in the sacrifice. The priests chant different hymns to appease the god Garimai. Once the pre-sacrificial rituals end the animals are brought in for the kill. The sacrifice starts with the offering of five different animals: pig, buffalo, goat, wild rats and birds which include chicken and pigeon. The different animals represent the mental obscurations. The different animals represent the mental obscurations sacrificed by the community including anger, stupidity and desire. After the sacrifice of the first animal, a goat, thousands of pigeons are sacrificed by severing the heads. Next three wild rats are brought and sacrificed before a comb like pole. After this more than 250 people carrying naked swords and axes wrapped in red clothes, all with a license to kill, approach the temple. They finally rush towards the field where more than 7,000 young buffaloes are kept. Before the beasts are slaughtered, seven buffaloes tied to the pole undergo the sacrificial ritual. In the end, only the heads of those gentle animals that were alive just a few moments ago remain.

The Khokana festival

The Khokana festival is held every year in August, the day after Gai Jatra, A 5-6 month old goat is thrown in a pond close to Rudrayani temple in Khokana, a village in the south of Kathmandu Valley. Nine young men enter the pond and start to tear the goat apart by grasping its legs, ears, hoof or tail. The one who manages to kill the goat is the \'hero\' and leads the Shinkali Dance which is held afterwards. Khokana residents have witnessed the barbaric scene year in year out and think it provides religious merit. It is not clear why and when the cruel goat-killing was introduced. Locals believe that when children started to drown in the pond in the 12th century, residents started to drown alive goat to appease the gods. However there is evidence showing that devotees in former times offered fruits and flowers in the temple and that the act with the struggling goat was introduced to create a spectacle.
These all are wrong things happening in our societies. These rituals must be abolished. Why to kill animals and sacrifice them in order to show our truly devotion to god. We can offer flowers fruits and other things to show our devotion towards god.

We humans are regarded as the master of the world. We are one of the intellectual organisms but that doesn’t mean we right / license to sacrifice all animals in name of God.

If we regard ourselves as master of the world we must try and give our full effort to protect all the creatures of the world.

Do God really want blood? Does he really become happy by these activities? I don’t think so. If we really need to sacrifice then we must sacrifice our bad deed, selfishness, greed etc. not the animals or any other living beings.The main purpose of human society is to provide care for all animals.

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way it treats its animals\".....Mathma Gandhi.